Even the Blackest Rose
by Kuro Warau
Summary: Even the blackest rose, the one looking so non-important, can hide the most beautifully red rose when it's allowed to blossom.


**Even the Blackest Rose**

_by Kuro Warau_

**Rating: **T

**Summary: **Even the blackest rose, the one looking so non-important, can hide the most beautifully red rose when it's allowed to blossom.

**Warnings: **Mature themes, yaoi. Do not read if you dislike.

**Pairings: **Kaname x Zero and Zero x Kaname, exclusively.

**Disclaimer: **Vampire Knight, together with all characters do not belong to me. They belong to their creator, Hino Matsuri. I'm only burrowing them, with great affection, for entertainment purposes. I'm not earning any money on this fanfiction.

**Author's Notes: **To all you other readers, this story is written as a present, but I want to share this with all of you out there as well. I hope you'll enjoy this. Names are, as always, written in the Japanese way and order. Oneshot.

-X-

Kaname learned against the frame of the open window in his room in the Moon Dorm. The wind was rustling the leaves on the trees outside, but the window wasn't open enough to allow the wind to enter Kaname's room. His burgundy eyes sought towards the small package on the desk behind him.

His eyes fell on the clothes he'd discarded on a chair nearby, while a faint smile ghosted across his lips. He would have worn something really formal and appropriate for the occasion, but instead, his decision had fallen upon a regular shirt and a pair of jeans, less formal clothes than what he dressed in for school. No reason to ruin expensive clothing like that.

Once more, he unwrapped the small package, discarding the wrappings, studying the contents and then rewrapping it all neatly. It had to look perfect. Perfect for his beloved.

He'd just finished rewrapping the small box when he felt the distinctive presence of a hunter and a few moments later, it knocked. Kaname opened his mouth to allow an entrance into his private rooms, but before he got so far, an irritated voice sounded from the other side of the door. "Look, Kaname don't mind that I just come in. You insisted on following me, probably on Kaname's orders, but I will not condone that you treat me as if I'm a visitor coming to meet a king. Let me enter, thank you _very_ much!"

The irritation in Zero's voice was so _Zero _that Kaname couldn't help but smile. No doubt had Aidou or Ichijo followed Zero all the way from the main entrance to the pureblood's champers and no doubt had that restrained respect irritated Zero to pieces.

A moment later, the door was all but smacked open and Zero entered, an irritated scowl in place on his face, although his entire face lit up in a bright smile when he saw Kaname. To the pureblood, it felt like the dark night turned into day for just a second.

"You know, Kaname… I know it's a special day and all, but seriously… you didn't have to make all your nobles with somewhat freaky powers create such a scene outside…" he said dryly, albeit with a small smile hidden in his tone. The somewhat extraordinary road that showed from the school building to the Moon Dorm had, just for tonight, been decorated and enlightened with long rows on both sides of high posts created exclusively of ice with lit fire on the top to show the way. As additional decoration, long snaking arms of blood wrapped around the posts like ivy and the trees around the road had been twisted and turned in numerous ways to create beautiful, natural patterns. In Zero's opinion, that was to overdo it just a bit.

"They had been busy…" he remarked sarcastically.

Kaname suppressed a smile at the hunter's tone. "Mmm… But not as busy as we'll be," he purred teasingly, learning over the desk and receiving that night's first kiss. "Happy one-year anniversary, my beloved," he murmured, suddenly serious and honest in tone.

"Happy one-year anniversary, my precious." Zero learned further down to capture the pureblood's lips in another soft kiss. And another. And another. Until they weren't soft or innocent any longer. Kaname purred in satisfaction and pulled Zero down towards the desk. He'd spend hours waiting for this.

"Now… first things first, before I get carried away. Here… open this. Your present," Kaname instructed, handing Zero the small box, neatly wrapped up. The hunter accepted it hesitantly, pulling in the long, elegant ribbons and revealing a fine, blank box underneath the wrappings. "I-it's not a ring, is it?" Zero asked nervously, fingerling the small package around in his hands.

"No," Kaname reassured, clearly amused by the nervous tone in Zero's voice, coursed by the disgust at the thought of a ring, but at the same time not wanting to sound disgusted in case it really was a ring. Calmed somewhat down, Zero opened the box to reveal a tiny, tiny piece of jewelry. It was heart shaped and made of silver, with a ruby-red stone placed in the middle. "It's use is varied. You can use it as an attachment to your ear piercings or as a necklace," Kaname explained.

"It's very beautiful," Zero whispered silently, visibly touched. Kaname remained silent, happy to have provided Zero something that he so visibly liked.

Zero inspected the little pendant a few moments more, before carefully laying it back in the box and storing it safely out of the way. "And he has your eyes, Kaaname," Zero mocked lovingly, pulling up a small package he'd hid underneath his uniform jacket. "This is for you," he declared, handing the package to Kaname, who accepted it slowly. He wasn't used to getting such presents and when they were from Zero, he barely knew how to give a proper response.

The thing was that he could have almost anything he wanted, so usually he could just wear a fake smile when he accepted a gift from someone. He couldn't with Zero though, because the hunter knew him better than anyone and he had fantasy. He always came up with something unexpected, but absolutely wonderful, and Kaname never knew how to properly express his gratitude.

Slowly, he unwrapped the package, a soft, shapeless package it was, one of those packages where it's impossible to predict what might be inside. At last, he'd gotten to the center. Fumbling with the paper in a way unusual of purebloods, he held up the small sculpture inside. It was green stone in the bottom as stalks, and the flowers themselves where made of colored glass. The glass reflected the dull light in the room.

There were many red roses, a deep beautiful red color, and yet what drew attention was the single black rose in the midst of the red. Kaname studied this single black rose closely, keen on figuring out why it was part of the seemingly red bouquet. "What do you see?" Zero asked quietly.

"A black rose between red roses. It's out of place. It doesn't belong among all the beautiful red roses," Kaname answered back, still deep in thought over the single black rose. "It captures your eye because it is out of place. It destroys the peaceful balance of colors with the red and the green."

"Oh, do you think so?" Zero asked, bowing down to look at the flowers himself. "I think the black rose is the most beautiful of all of them. It captures the eye because it's different, not like the others… Special. Unique. It's strength lays in how it is different. It stands out in the crowd because it's beautifully special. The thing is… as it is, it is beautiful because it's different. But if you put it together with a lot of black roses and had but a single red rose left, the red rose would be the one capturing your eye with a splash of color. On the other side… this black rose is special and therefore beautiful, but probably a tiny bit lonely because it can only see it's difference as a bad thing. So, the ideal thing would be a bouquet with two black roses and a lot of red ones, so the black rose could see how special and beautiful the other black rose was, and think: "I, too, have these qualities. I, too, is someone special." Then, I think the black rose would be happy…" Zero whispered, his hand reaching out for Kaname's. Their eyes met for a second, exchanging the understanding.

Kaname laid down the small bouquet and flung his arms around Zero, who greeted him with open arms. Their lips met immediately and they moved slowly towards the bedroom, drowning in soft embraces and even softer lips.

-X-

**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed this. I didn't want it to be a real lemon, although that was originally the plan. I decided to keep it on a more sweet/loving level.

By the way, when Zero calls Kaname "Kaaname", it's a reference to the Japanese word okaa-san, which means mother. He's talking about how the stone has Kaname's eye color.


End file.
